Stu Smallwood discusses the latest meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, which has resulted in the possibility that the United States may offer to temporarily reduce economic sanctions in exchange for the start of the denuclearization process on the part of North Korea. This is essentially the opposite of what John Bolton has called “the Libya model”, i.e. complete denuclearization before any concessions are made. The problem, of course, is that everyone—including Kim—knows that after Gaddafi agreed to give up his country’s nuclear program, he was overthrown, tortured, and killed in the streets in an American-backed coup. Democrats, meanwhile, are claiming that Trump is a puppet and a dupe, which makes it almost impossible for him to negotiate with Kim while saving face at home.

Discussed on the show:

• “Trump-Kim DMZ Meeting a Victory for Peace, Though Pompeo-Bolton Sabotage Looms Large” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “US mulls suspending sanctions if North Korea agrees to denuclearisation, Yonhap reports” (South China Morning Post)
• “A Majority of Military Veterans Think the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq Were a Mistake – Mother Jones” (Mother Jones)
• “It’s time we saw economic sanctions for what they really are – war crimes” (Independent)
• “Trump tells confidants he’s eager to remove Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats” (Axios)

Stu Smallwood lived in Korea for eight years and now writes about the US empire in Korea for Antiwar.com and Global Research. Follow him on Twitter @stu_smallwood.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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